Likouala is a department of the Republic of the Congo in the northern part of the country. It borders the departments of

Cuvette A cuvette (French: cuvette = "little vessel") is a small tube-like container with straight sides and a circular or square cross section. It is sealed at one end, and made of a clear, transparent material such as plastic, glass, or fused quartz. ...

and

Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

, and internationally, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

and the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

. The region has an area of 66,044 km² and an estimated population of almost 90,000. The chief town is Impfondo. Principal cities and towns include Epena and Dongou.

History

Historically, this department was cut off from part of

Lobaye Lobaye is one of the 16 prefectures of the Central African Republic. Its capital is Mbaïki. Emperor Duy Tân of Vietnam died here on December 26, 1945 in a plane crash. David Dacko, the first and third president of the Central African Republic ...

, an area of the Central African Republic. It is believed that it was first inhabited by the Pygmy tribe.

Administrative divisions

Likouala Department is divided into seven districts:

Districts

# Impfondo District # Epena District # Dongou District # Bétou District # Bouanéla District # Enyellé District # Liranga District

Geography

Likouala is almost covered with dense and often flooded forests of lakes and very full of fish ponds. Its ground is argillaceous and sandy by places. The north of the department belongs to the mountainous Massif Oubanguien. The shallow Lac Tele is 5 km across and circular in shape.

Climate

Likouala has a tropical climate. The dry season is from March to July, the remainder of the year being dominated by the rainy season. The variations in temperatures are in general important (24° to 25° C).

Demography

The populations of Likouala would have come from North, the South, the East and the West. The Pygmies are regarded as the first occupants of this ground. The department counts many Rwandan, Central African refugees today and of Congo-Kinshasa.

Forestry

Six forest units of installation (UFA) are in the course of exploitation by several companies, of which Processing industry of the wood of Likouala (ITBL) and Likouala-Timber. Likouala currently occupies the first place in the production of wood of Congo.

Rivers and fisheries

The department has an important hydraulic network. The principal rivers are Oubangui,

Likouala-aux-herbes The Likouala-aux-Herbes is a river in the Republic of the Congo. It is a tributary of the Sangha River, which in turn is a tributary of the Congo River. It gives its name to the Likouala Department. Location The Likouala-aux-Herbes is almost lo ...

, Libenga and Motaba. Fishing is practised in these rivers in an artisanal way. According to FAO, its halieutic potential is evaluated with 100.000 tons per annum.

Agriculture

Agriculture is of traditional type. The principal food crops are the manioc, the banana, the taros; as well as products of gathering. One also produces the coffee, the cocoa and the palm oil. The crop year of last year yielded 1500 tons of cocoa. This production is falling because of the irregularity of the marketing of the products and the closing of the principal company which ensured the marketing of the cocoa in the department, Congo Otto-Export.

Transport

Geographic insulation is a handicap. Transport is very limited; the river port and the airport are the only access routes.

Districts

The department counts seven districts. The administrations are badly equipped and lack executives and personnel. Each of the seven districts corresponds to the basins of the region's principal rivers. The districts of Liranga, Impfondo and Bétou comprised the villages located on right bank of the rivers Congo and Oubangui. The district of Dongou gathers the villages of the basin of Motaba. The district of Enyellé corresponds to the basin of Libenga and its confluence with Oubangui, to the border with the Central African Republic. The basin of Likouala-aux-herbes is divided by the district of Epena to the north and that of Bouanela in the south.

Towns and cities

The regional capital is Impfondo. Other towns include Ancien Sandjala, Boyelle, Dongou, Ibenga, Kitadi, Mabelou, Makasa, Makengo, Mongouala, and Motaba.

Wildlife and conservation

The region is undergoing a campaign to minimise

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

and reduce the impact of logging due to the establishment of nature reserves in the region. The forest of Likouala abounds in animal species such as

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

s and chimpanzees. Likouala is home to, among other animals, the dwarf crocodile ''Osteolaemus tetraspis osborni''.

Mythological creatures

Reports of a surviving sauropod called the Mokele Mbembe or n'yamala emanate from here.

Bibliography

* O'Hanlon, R: ''No Mercy: a journey to the heart of the Congo''

References

External links

A French site about the region
{{Authority control Departments of the Republic of the Congo